. >> reporter: as opposition forces advance toward diagram damascus, president obama confirmed in an interview with abc news some officials have u.s. backing. >> is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of syrian population we occur them the -- consider them the legitimate representative of the syrian people in opposition to the assad regime. >> reporter: u.s. officials confirm that this week's fighting showed that the conflict is escalating. >> we're seeing use of another weapon, a barrel bomb, that is contains flammable materials, a napalm-like thing. >> reporter: the move to recognize elements of the syrian opposition, brought to a rebuke from russian foreign minister whose government has backed negotiation between the syrian president al-assad and the opposition, given u.s. involvement in libya and iraq to bring down their dictators, analysts predict big divisions between the white house and the russians. >> they are determined to preserve their ties to -- >> reporter: while administration downplays the leadership role this leader shows gee add hists, -- j